History

Early years

San Antonio was home for one of the charter members of the Texas League back in 1888. Since that inaugural season the town has hosted a number of Texas League franchises, most of them using the "Missions" moniker. Baseball was absent only a few of the early years (1893–94, 1900–1906) and again when World War II occupied most would-be ballplayers between 1943 and 1945.

Initially the team went by the names "Missionaries", "Gentlemen" and "Bronchos" – a Spanish twist on the name "Broncos". During these years, nearly 250 players reached the Major Leagues.

The current "Missions" moniker was coined with the team's first Major League affiliation, a partnership with the St. Louis Browns (later to become the Baltimore Orioles). They remained a Browns affiliate through the Texas League's temporary demise after the 1942 season due to World War II and until 1959, when they struck up a partnership with the Chicago Cubs. While with the Browns/Orioles, the team saw well over 100 players reach the Majors, including Hall-of-Famers Willard Brown (1956) and Brooks Robinson (1956–1957).

The "Missions" name was used for the teams affiliated with the Cubs, through 1962. In just four years in the Cubs’ system, more than 50 alumni reached the Major Leagues – including Ron Santo (1959) and Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams (1959).

The Missions changed their name to the Bullets in 1963, when the team joined the new Houston Colt .45s organization. The idea behind the name was that the team's prospects would be the "bullets to the gun" of the .45s team. The Bullets boasted 30 prospects that would go on to see time in the Bigs, including Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan and two-time National League All-Star Jerry Grote. (Much of Grote's success came with the Miracle Mets of 1969, and not with the .45s/Astros organization.)

Baseball returned to San Antonio for the 1968 season, again taking on the Missions name, as part of an expansion of the Texas League. Again playing as a Cubs affiliate, another 42 future Big Leaguers took the field over a four-year stretch. After the 1971 season the team packed up again and moved to Midland, Texas, where they continue as the Midland RockHounds.

In 1972 another ownership group brought baseball into town to replace the group that left to Midland, and brought with it an affiliation with the Milwaukee Brewers, just two years removed from their move to Wisconsin from Seattle. With the affiliation change to the Brewers, the franchise took the parent club's nickname—which it kept despite changes in affiliation to the Cleveland Indians (1973–1975) and Texas Rangers (1976). The "Brewers" nickname fit the city almost as well as it fit their single-season affiliate in Milwaukee, being the home of the Pearl Brewing Company.

The future Big Leaguers continued to pour onto the field through the affiliation changes, and more than 30 San Antonio Brewers made it to the top. Among them was Hall-of-Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley, an Indians farmhand who tore through the Texas League in 1974.

The team became the San Antonio Dodgers with a change in affiliation to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977.

Radio Personalities

David Alexander Olds announced baseball games for the Missions in the pre-WWII era.

Los Angeles Dodgers

While the franchise kept the "Dodger" moniker for eleven seasons (1977–1987), locals still referred to them occasionally as the Missions. The Dodgers responded by officially changing their nickname back to "Missions" for the 1988 season.

The team played a bulk of its years with the Dodgers at V. J. Keefe Memorial Stadium, which they shared with the St. Mary's University baseball team. In 1994 the team moved into Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, a design typical of baseball stadiums build during the late-1980s through the mid-1990s. The new stadium was named in honor of Nelson Wolff, the mayor of San Antonio at the time the stadium was built.

The affiliation with the Dodgers ended after the 2000 season with both clubs mutually agreeing to part.

Seattle Mariners

From 2001 until 2006 the Seattle Mariners had a player development contract with the team that brought back-to-back Texas League Championships during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

The 2006 Missions struggled to score runs and finished 60–77 overall. (27–41, 33–37). The Missions were plagued by high player turnover and featured 52 different players over the course of the season.

San Diego Padres

On September 28, 2006, the San Diego Padres announced a two-year player development contract with the San Antonio Missions.

Randy Ready managed the Missions in 2007 following a promotion from Class A. The first home game as a member of the Padres organization was April 12, 2007 a 2–0 win against the Tulsa Drillers. Sean Thompson picked up the win and helped score a run.

Led by Chase Headley and Josh Geer who won player of the year and pitcher of the year honors the Missions were the 2007 Texas League Champions.

Rivalry with Hooks

Since the Corpus Christi Hooks moved to Corpus Christi from Round Rock in 2005 they have been the chief rivals of the Missions. The main point of the rivalry is to determine who is the better team of South Texas. Recently the Hooks have stated on their website that they are the "Baseball Capital of South Texas" The Missions recently ousted the Hooks from the TLDS in 2013.

2009 season

The 2009 season started out with an exhibition game between players on the Missions roster and members of the Padres’ Big League Spring Training roster. The result was a 7–3 win for the minor league guys, bolstered by a grand slam by hometown hero Seth Johnston.

Under the leadership of former MLB All-Star Terry Kennedy, the team earned a playoff berth by winning the first-half division title—clinching the berth on the road during an extra-innings win at Corpus Christi on June 23, the last game in the first half of the season.

The season was anti-climactic, however, as the team struggled down the final stretch and into playoffs. The Missions were eliminated by the Midland RockHounds, the eventual Texas League title winners, in four games – mustering enough excitement to win one playoff game behind the pitching of Will Inman. During Game 2 of the southern division championship series, the benches cleared when Mitch Canham defended Inman, who let out a yell to celebrate striking out Midland's catcher Josh Donaldson. When Canham came to bat the following inning, Midland pitcher Carlos Hernández threw a pitch that came close to Canham's head, clearing the benches again and nearly provoking a fight between the teams.

Several players stood out at times during the 2009 season, some of them being promoted for their performance. Outfielder Mike Baxter was promoted early on for his assault on Texas League pitching, batting .376 with 23 doubles in 51 games. Pitchers Tim Stauffer, Cesar Carrillo and Mat Latos were promoted to the Padres after performing well at the Double-A level, though Stauffer and Carrillo both spent a few weeks at the Triple-A level before moving on to the Majors. First baseman Craig Cooper led the team with a .312 average and 11 home runs by the end of the season. Outfielder Luis Durango led the Texas League with 44 stolen bases. Right-hander Ernesto Frieri led the team in most pitching categories, finishing the season protected on the 40-man Major League roster. Other noteworthy players include shortstop Lance Zawadzki, who played in the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game; third baseman Logan Forsythe, who led all of minor league baseball in on-base percentage for a bulk of the season; Cedric Hunter; lefty Nathan Culp and outfielder Sawyer Carroll. Also, second baseman Eric Sogard opened enough eyes to be sought by the Oakland Athletics in a trade that sent Sogard and Kevin Kouzmanoff to the A's and Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.

2010 season

On December 1, 2009, the Padres announced Kennedy and his coaching staff would be promoted to the Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League for the 2010 season, and the Missions would be managed by Doug Dascenzo, who managed the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps to the best regular-season record in minor league baseball and a Midwest League title in 2009.

2011 season

The Missions got a hot start to the 2011 season, finishing April with the best record in Double-A baseball.[1] Remarkably, they also amassed the most home runs of any team in Minor League Baseball in that time despite playing in the notoriously pitcher-friendly Wolff Stadium. Their early season success can be attributed to a roster filled with some of the top slugging prospects in the Padres' system, including Jaff and Cody Decker (not related). They have also had an offensive boost with the return of Kyle Blanks. Blanks played for the Missions in 2008 and is currently rehabbing after having Tommy John surgery performed in July 2010.[2]

The Missions hosted the 75th Annual Texas League All-Star Game on June 29, 2011.[3]

The Missions won the 1st half division title, thus going to the playoffs. The Missions won their 12th Texas League Championship, sweeping the Arkansas Travelers in the Texas League Championship series.

2012 season

In 2012, Nate Freiman played for the Missions and led the league in RBIs (105) and hits (154).[4][5] He was both a Texas League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star, and an MILB.com San Diego Padres All-Star.

Signature promotions

The San Antonio Missions rely more on the traditional approach to delivering a simple baseball game to their fans than other teams in minor league baseball, which is known for hosting a slew of wacky promotions. However, the Missions are known for a few of their own promotions – some of which have garnered nationwide attention within the industry.

During the seventh inning of each game, an auxiliary mascot named Henry the Puffy Taco is chased around the bases by a kid from the stands, typically between 6 and 10 years of age. The kid tackles the giant taco to the ground just before reaching home plate (they start at first base), then poses triumphantly over the downed mascot. Henry has only won the race once, in 1992. In that race, Henry mis-timed his steps and he inadvertently crossed home plate before his 10-year-old opponent. Nearly 20 years later the Missions hosted a rematch and, on June 24, 2010, the kid finally avenged his loss.

In recent years the team has gained attention from within the baseball industry for two unique giveaway nights – Shirt Off Your Back and Used Car Giveaway. In the first, often held on or near the last game of the season, the jerseys worn by the players during the game are raffled off to fans in the stands (raffle tickets are offered at no charge, and each fan is limited to one entry). The same raffle format is used for the Used Car Giveaway, where more than 10 used cars are given away throughout the night. In 2010 the prizes included a 2001 Ford Mustang and a 2001 Volvo S60.

Like most Minor League Baseball teams, the Missions use on-field emcees to execute their promotions. The Missions have an emcee personality named "Lefty", performed by a rotating tandem of J.C Carpenter and Mike Lavender.

In addition, Brian Anderson – the former radio voice of the San Antonio Missions – has reached the Big Leagues as the broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers. More recently, broadcaster Stu Paul has moved closer to his dream of being in the Majors and is now broadcasting for the Nashville Sounds of the PCL.

Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium

Often referred to as the "Jewel of the Texas League" (probably a moniker given the facility when it was new in 1994), Wolff Stadium is currently the oldest ballpark in the Texas League with 17 years of use. The ballpark seats more than 6,200 and, when counting the "outfield berm" seating holds more than 9,000 spectators. Missions management has been seeking a new stadium since 2009, hoping to work in tandem with the University of Texas at San Antonio to bring a viable project about.

Tickets for Missions games are priced on par with other minor league parks, ranging from $8 to $11 based on the section of the ballpark or $5 for berm seating.